


all talk

by glitch_writes



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Can probably be read without Mass Effect knowledge, Death mention but nobody's dead, Flashbacks, Getting Together, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Mass Effect AU, but no promises
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-03
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-10-03 19:23:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17289932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glitch_writes/pseuds/glitch_writes
Summary: Tanaka hesitates over the pager button.Tsukishima will come if he calls. There’s no doubt about that. How many times had a year’s worth of flirting nearly come to a head in the med bay after a mission, how many times had they gotten close enough for Tanaka to feel Tsukishima’s breath on his lips before the doctor pulled away? (Alright, it was only twice - three times if he counted when he was knocked unconscious at Illium and came to right before Tsukishima shocked him.) How many not-a-dates had they had on the Presidium, stealing a few hours and a few drinks at Flux while the Normandy refueled? (Tsukishima never dances. Someday, he’ll dance, Tanaka swears on it.)Well. Maybe Tsukishima’s right about that one, in the end. Going through the Omega 4 Relay’s a one-way trip.A trip they’ll be taking in... according to the time on his laptop, less than fourteen hours.





	all talk

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Stacysmash](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stacysmash/gifts).



Tanaka hesitates over the pager button.

Tsukishima will come if he calls. There’s no doubt about that. How many times had a year’s worth of flirting nearly come to a head in the med bay after a mission, how many times had they gotten close enough for Tanaka to feel Tsukishima’s breath on his lips before the doctor pulled away? (Alright, it was only twice - three times if he counted when he was knocked unconscious at Illium and came to right before Tsukishima shocked him.) How many not-a-dates had they had on the Presidium, stealing a few hours and a few drinks at Flux while the Normandy refueled? (Tsukishima never dances. Someday, he’ll dance, Tanaka swears on it.)

Well. Maybe Tsukishima’s right about that one, in the end. Going through the Omega 4 Relay’s a one-way trip.

A trip they’ll be taking in... according to the time on his laptop, less than fourteen hours.

Tsukishima will come to his quarters if he calls.

But would Tsukishima come on his own otherwise?

*

_“I was talking to Suga-san about why you joined.”_

_“We’re using honorifics for the illegal AI now?”_

_“You’d like him if you gave him a chance, Tsukishima.”_

_Tsukishima sneered, an irritated curl of his lips that drew Tanaka’s eye. He had no right being so tempting while making such a face. “I’m sure Cerberus is ecstatic that you’ve accepted their AI into your little family.”_

_“That’s exactly what- Ah, shit,” Tanaka hissed as Tsukishima rolled the medi-gel over his shoulder; his shielding handled the most of that missile from the mission - most. Thankfully, deep as the cut was, it was just that - deep, and stung like a bitch, but nothing that sitting up in his fave med bay with his fave doc couldn’t fix. “That’s what we were talkin’ about! You’re so paranoid about Cerberus- which I get 200%- but that means you don’t trust their… Ah, what was it… Filters! You don’t trust their filters. Any info they give us is only what they want us to see.”_

_The medi-gel was cold, ice stabbing through his wounds, but Tsukishima’s hands... The hand holding the applicator was hot in comparison against his bare skin, even through the gloves, the side of his palm sliding along his skin as he worked. His other hand… there was no reason for it to be on Tanaka’s other shoulder, he realized. No reason to be holding him. No reason to be so close._

_At least, no sensible reason._

_“What about it?” Tsukishima asked, the leg of his glasses obscuring his gaze from Tanaka._

_“I’m saying… Ah, how do I put it. If you can’t even trust the extranet… You must trust me a whole hell of a lot to be on this ship when you can’t trust_ anything _else about it.”_

_Tsukishima’s hand stilled. “Colonies were disappearing.”_

_“But the Alliance was looking into it, too. And you can’t give me some ‘They’re all talk and no action’ line, cause that’s all you are either.”_

_Tsukishima stood straight; even from the extra height of the medical bed, Tsukishima was taller, staring down the two or so inches at Tanaka. “What was that?”_

_“I said,” Tanaka grinned, “you’re all talk and no action.”_

_The medi-gel applicator fell from Tsukishima’s hand to the bed with a dull thud as Tsukishima stepped closer, too close, standing between Tanaka’s knees and grabbing Tanaka’s chin to tilt his head up forcefully._

_Tanaka’s breath hitched, but the wisp of breath from Tsukishima’s barely parted lips was steady and hot on Tanaka’s lips._

_Tsukishima’s eyes searched his, those brown eyes he was crazy about intently locked onto his own - it was hard to look away, but Tanaka had to, had to trace Tsukishima’s lips with with his gaze, had to sear all of it into his mind deeper than the scars all over his body so he could recall it on the nights when memories of the Collector attack were louder than his thoughts._

_Tsukishima’s nose brushed against his, brown eyes catching the med bay light just right, and--_

_\--And he gave Tanaka a hellish smirk, crueler than the medi-gel’s cold as he pulled away. “Welp, looks like there’s no concussion!” Tsukishima declared in that too-loud, not-even-pretending-to-be-subtle tone as he turned to his counter and pulled off his gloves. “You’re good to go, Commander.”_

_“...Eh?” Tanaka blinked._

_Tsukishima gestured to the door. “Rest your arm before the big mission. We'll all die for nothing if you can't hold your gun once we go through the relay.”_

_“Yeah, sure, no pressure,” Tanaka snorted, sliding off the bed to his feet. “You're a damn tease, you know that?”_

_“You said it yourself. I'm all talk.” Tsukishima smirked at him, glancing from the corner of his eye. “I'll see you before we go through the relay, Commander.”_

_“...That more talk?”_

_“Guess you'll just have to wait and see.”_

*

He runs his finger over the pager, circling over the rim.

There’s no sense in second-guessing anything now. There’s no _time_ to second-guess.

Even if it’s only skin-deep for Tsukishima… Well, in fourteen hours, romance will be the least of Tanaka’s problems.

All that matters now is if Tsukishima is ‘all talk’, or--

“You should keep your door locked, Commander. You trust your little Cerberus friends too much.” Tsukishima steps through the door, walking past Tanaka towards the bed. “You really keep a fish tank? You have nothing better to spend your extra money on?” he remarks as he glances around the cabin.

“You really never been in here, huh?” Tanaka walks over to Tsukishima, the pager forgotten. “I love my fish! They all got names that are important to me. Noya, Daichi, Yamaguchi…”

“People who don't trust us anymore. You're too sentimental for someone working with the enemy.”

“Yeah, well, they'll come around and see the whole ‘enemy of my enemy’ deal once we put a stop to the Collectors.”

“They can thank us by leaving flowers at our tombstones.”

Tanaka tests his boundaries, wrapping his arms around Tsukishima from behind.

Tsukishima stills, frozen for half a beat before resting his hand on Tanaka’s wrist.

Tsukishima is so thin, he realizes, his arms fitting around enough that he can touch his elbows. But Tsukishima's also solid, real, finally in his arms after far too long.

Damn, how long has he wanted this, he realizes as he rests his forehead against Tsukishima's back. “We're all gonna make it. You know that, right?”

“Don't fool yourself. It's impossible. No one's ever come back from the Omega 4 Relay.”

Tanaka loosened his grip to grab Tsukishima's hips instead, turning Tsukishima to face him. “Tsukishima. I'm too stubborn to get ‘impossible’. They say me getting everyone out alive on Elysium was impossible, but that doesn't matter, cause I did it anyways. They said it was impossible to kill a Reaper, but I did that, too. Hell, I died. Got spaced. They said I was nothing but some meat and bones. But I'm here, holding you right now.” He slides his hands from Tsukishima's hips to around his back. “Too damn stubborn to die. And too damn stubborn to let anyone else die.”

Tsukishima's quiet, looking from Tanaka's eyes, to the clock, to the bed. Finally, he smirks again. “So, if I didn't join you with Cerberus, would you have named a fish after me?”

“Nope, because none of my fish are assholes.”

Tsukishima's smirk widens before he shoves Tanaka onto the bed and crawls on top of him. “I'm sick of talking.”

“About damn time,” Tanaka whispers, pulling Tsukishima in.

Tsukishima's lips are nothing like him. They're soft and inviting, parting for him, beckoning more just as his roaming hands beckon for more. Zippers are pulled hastily, clothes are tossed haphazardly, and Tsukishima’s breath hitches against Tanaka’s lips as Tanaka pulls off his glasses carefully, slowly, setting them on the nightstand by the clock counting down the hours till their ‘impossible’ mission.

*

_For the briefest of flashes, Tanaka saw it._

_Tsukishima always had his guard up - literally, metaphorically, kinetic shields always ready and heart never exposed._

_But in the dimly lit clinic in Omega’s slums, his walls dropped._

_“Commander?” Tsukishima's voice cracked, eyes wide past the rim of his glasses. “So it's true, you're…”_

_Tsukishima's gaze flickered to Tanaka's companions - Watari to his left, Kunimi to his right, both in their custom-made but undoubtedly Cerberus armor._

_Tsukishima's walls - and kinetic shields - raised as quickly as they dropped. “You really are with Cerberus.”_

_“Yeah, but not like I have a choice.” Tanaka waved Watari and Kunimi away, and they obeyed with nothing more than a nod before walking back to the waiting room. He set his helmet on the empty cot between him and Tsukishima. “Listen. You saw when I got spaced.”_

_Tsukishima looked away, his brow furrowed._

_Tanaka continued, “I was deader than dead. They put me back together. Took ‘em two years and way too much money.”_

_“Even though we've killed them by the dozens?”_

_“Yup. They think I'm some sort of symbol that everyone will follow to help find the missing colonists.”_

_“And what, you’re just following along? Did they resurrect you as a puppet?” Tsukishima laughed - that sharp, mocking laugh that Tanaka hated to admit that he missed. “I didn't think death would make you such a pushover, Commander. Do you clean their leader's shoes between missions, too?”_

_Tsukishima was a prick, through and through._

_Damn, Tanaka missed him._

_“Spit shine. Use my own toothbrush to get those hard to reach crevices,” Tanaka shoots back with a grin. “C'mon, asshole, you're smart. You know the truth. The Alliance is sitting on their asses waiting for the Council while whole colonies are disappearing. If I have to work with an enemy to save these people, then that's what I gotta do. Whatever it takes.”_

_Tsukishima sucked his teeth. “Tch. Of course they'd play on your foolish sense of morality.”_

_“Maybe they did. But what would you do in my shoes, Tsukishima?” He walked around to cot toward Tsukishima, gesturing around the room along his way. “This clinic's illegal, isn't it? You opened shop here in this shithole cause no one else would help these people. You'd do whatever it takes, too.”_

_Tsukishima pushed up his glasses, silent._

_“They rebuilt the Normandy. Shiny, new med bay waiting for a talented doctor. Whaddya say… Wanna help save these colonists?”_

_Tsukishima met his gaze again - briefly, fleeting before his eyes landed on the deep scars that adorned his cheek._

_Tsukishima's hand was cold as he reached up, mapping the scars with his fingertip. “Do they have the records from the procedure that rebuilt you?”_

_Tanaka resisted the urge to cup his hand over Tsukishima's; it was only a doctor's touch, after all. Probably. Maybe. Hopefully not, but he didn't dare ask, didn't dare push now when it risked pushing Tsukishima away forever. “Y-yeah. Yeah, it's all there. It's a lot of it, though. And I don't get a word of it.”_

_Maybe Tsukishima's guard wasn't completely up after all, Tanaka realized as he watched Tsukishima’s gaze trace his scars. He'd always been difficult to read, but… well, whatever it was Tanaka saw in his eyes was still hard to discern, but it was… vulnerable._

_“Let's get one thing straight, Commander,” Tsukishima began, softer than Tanaka would have ever expected. “I answer only to you. I won't do anything they ask of me until you give the order. I want nothing more to do with them than absolutely necessary. Is that clear?”_

_Tanaka covered Tsukishima's hand with his own, grinning hard enough to strain his scarred cheek. “Sir, yes sir!”_

*

Tanaka hates that Tsukishima woke before him.

He wanted to watch him sleeping, to see if the bastard can ever look peaceful. He wanted to trace Tsukishima’s lips with his eyes, to see if his eyelashes flutter ever so gently as he dreams, to watch the rise and fall of his bare chest.

At least he’s still there - still naked in his arms, their legs tangled and his arm over Tanaka’s waist, watching Tanaka through heavy lids. “You’re staring, Commander.”

“Cause you’re hot,” he yawns gracelessly, wincing at his shoulder as he stretches. “And don’t call me ‘Commander’ while we’re naked. It’s weird.”

“Sir.”

“Alright, that’s not what I was aiming for, but it’s significantly hotter.” He wraps his arm back around Tsukishima and pulls him closer to his chest. “You can call me by my given name, you know.”

Tsukishima’s hand traces slow, soothing circles on his back. “Do you even remember what it is anymore when all you hear is ‘Tanaka’ and ‘Commander’ all day.”

“Nope. I’m sure it’s in my medical record somewhere.” He presses a kiss to the top of Tsukishima’s head, the blond hair soft against his lips.

It’s a damn shame he didn’t get to watch Tsukishima sleeping, but that’s okay; he’s certain he’ll get the chance again soon enough. After all, unlike Tsukishima - unlike either of them, now - he’s not all talk; they’ll get out of this impossible mission just fine. “Alright, let’s get up. Time to go kick some Collector ass.”


End file.
